Koo Koo Kanga Roo is all about dancing, yelling, and bringing the party. Founders Bryan and Neil won’t be satisfied until the entire room has joined in on the fun. Think the Beastie Boys multiplied by Sesame Street plus the driving dance beats of Daft Punk and the live show antics of the Flaming Lips.
Performing in an indierockband was fun…for a while. Then the constant lugging of gear, half an hour sound checks, and an audience who was only ever half interested in the music they were playing began to take its toll. Bryan and Neil agreed there was more to being in a band than just playing music for their fans. The goal was to create the most fun interactive live show that no one had seen before. The tools to accomplish that goal were; a giant roll of paper (to cover their dorm walls with ideas), a few sharpies, their super weird imaginations, and no rules. A few months later, with those goal accomplished, a dance duo was formed, and that duo was Koo Koo Kanga Roo.
Koo Koo Kanga Roo have just launched a “Bestest Friend” cover contest and the winner gets a Koo Koo Kanga Roo show at their house. The band wants you and all of your friends to cover their new song “Bestest Friend” off their new albumMidnight Slushie which comes out September 13. Click here for the song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wGcmW5A5CI
It’s only 3 Easy Steps:
1. Video Tape a One Take, Single Shot Video of you and all your friends covering “Bestest Friend” live on your instruments and stuff. (No Edits, use your computer camera, etc.)
2. Post on Youtube with the Title (Koo Koo Kanga Roo “Bestest Friend Cover” – Name of your group)
The dates will feature the band playing their entire four album catalogue, 2003′s I Am The Movie, 2005′s Commit This To Memory, 2007′s Even If it Kills Me, and 2010′s My Dinosaur Life, from start to finish, over the course of two nights in seven cities across the U.S. fall. The band originally staged a similar performance of the then three albums in three nights in Chicago in 2009 and wanted to expand on the idea. This series of shows kicks off in Los Angeles, tickets are available on Friday, June 24th at livenation.com and locally at all Ticketmaster outlets. Dates are as listed below:
August 19th & 20th House of Blues Los Angeles, CA
August 24th & 25th The Fillmore San Francisco, CA
Sept. 9th & 10th Irving Plaza New York, NY
Sept. 13th & 14th Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
Sept. 16th & 18th Theatre of the Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
Sept. 20th & 21st Cambridge Room at House Of Blues Cleveland, OH
Sept. 23rd & 24th St. Andrews Hall Detroit, MI
The beauty of a band like Motion City Soundtrack is that not only are they awesome musicians, but they’re also amazing people that are really supportive of music and the scene. They’ve done everything from intimate solo sets dictated by Twitter followers to big 3-night performances to play all their material. They just announced their latest endeavour, the first ever Popsickle Festival, which supports up-and-coming national bands and bands from their Minnesota home.
Popsickle Festival is a fest comprised of bands of a variety of genres. Motion City Soundtrack headlines and is joined by Minus the Bear, Foxy Shazam,Gold Motel and many others. It’s inspired by the early 90s version of Lollapalooza.
The festival is December 18 at Minneapolis’ First Avenue and 7th Street Entry. It’s all ages and tickets go onsale Saturday, November 13 at noon on Ticketmaster. The first 100 tickets will be priced at $12.50. All others will be $22.50.
Motion City Soundtrack is currently out on a co-headlining tour of the US with Say Anything, with Saves The Day supporting.The remaining tour dates are below:
Nov. 9th Nokia Theatre New York, NY
10th Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
12th Sonar Baltimore, MD
13th Amos’ Southend Music Hall Charlotte, NC
14th Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA
16th Revolution Ft. Lauderdale, FL
17th House of Blues Orlando, FL
19th The Palladium Ballroom Dallas, TX
20th Warehouse Live Houston, TX
21st Stubb’s BBQ Austin, TX
Normally the commercial-ready power pop punk doesn’t sit well with the indie-kid vibe of Bumbershoot, but Motion City Soundtrack are just nerdy enough to still appeal to the regular festival crowd. And besides, Weezer was playing the main stage that night, and they fit perfectly into the smaller stage lineup for the day.
Plenty of young’ns ventured over to the Center Square Stage to catch Motion City and their catchy tracks, spanning from Commit This To Memory back in 2005 all the way to My Dinosaur Life which came out earlier this year. I particularly liked “Her Words Destroyed My Planet” off the newalbum, which to be honest I was little underwhelmed with this year. But seeing it live gave me that extra push to enjoy it to its full potential. There were several technical difficulties, as frontman Justin Pierre had to tell the sound guys repeatedly to turn up his guitar, which slowed the set down a bit, but once they got going, they didn’t stop.
Plus, don’t you just love how relevant Pierre’s shirt is?
Last weekend, Seattle got to experience the 40th Annual Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival, featuring the likes of Bob Dylan, Hole and Mary J. Blige as some of the biggest names to grace the main stage this year. But those were just a few of the dozens of talented performers – local, regional, and international – at this year’s festival.
Stay turned in the next couple days for some of PopWreckoning’s select favorites from the festival, but while you wait, here’s a giant photo gallery for your viewing pleasure.
Calling My Dinosaur Life, Motion City Soundtrack‘s fourth studio album, one of the most anticipated albums of 2010 is a bit of a stretch considering that listeners will have to wait a meager 19 days into the new year for the album to drop. However, that shouldn’t discredit Motion City Soundtrack’s chances at securing the reputation or ability to compose an album of the year recording.
But anyone who knows Motion City Soundtrack should already realize they have the potential of releasing album of the year quality recordings. Their previous three albums have all caused a stir among listeners. Yet, unlike most bands plagued by the hype of their next release, Motion City Soundtrack has released three substantial full lengths in their three attempts. Tried and tested, they leaves fans little reason to think their fourth will flop. I assure you, it has not.
While My Dinosaur Life is truly Motion City Soundtrack’s darkest and most angry album to date, it also remains alive and full of the raw and blatant honesty that grabs listeners from spin one. The album’s pop-punk structures have a tendency to lean slightly more towards the mohawk side of the spectrum. Collecting the spirits of their I Am the Movie past, their do it yourself styling allow them to hang with any punk band on the scene. While it’s true they’ve shared genres with overly polished bands, their influences to me tend a touch more Agent Orange. The album’s opening track, “Worker Bee” is a prime example of this. Rocking tongue and cheek wit, the band tends to feature a class clown kind of sarcasm. Justin Pierre slyly suggests of his life, “I’ve been a good little worker bee. I deserve a gold star,” charming listeners in a way that only a true smart ass can.
However, it’s important to remember that Justin Pierre is truly a smart ass with a heart of gold. As noticed in his lyrics, his sarcasm and biting bitterness often stems from a strong case of depression and situation life problems. Addiction and damaged relationships tend to be an ongoing theme throughout this and all Motion City Soundtrack albums. This is never more obvious than within, “Her Words Destroyed My Planet.” Pierre states, “I just want you to be happy/or something/but I guess anything is better than the time you spent/sitting and waiting for me to get it sorted out.” It would seem, in my opinion, Motion City Soundtrack seems to be at its best when Pierre’s life is at its worst. That level of reality simply cannot be faked or processed by any studio technician. From his frantic screams for medication in “Disappear” or life questions in “Skin and Bones,” deeper issues simply drive this band. It is this fact that separates Motion City Soundtrack from those pop-punk bands who “dance, dance” or want you to “close the goddamn door.”
But don’t be fooled into assuming Pierre’s papercut heartache is a dagger in the spirit of the album. The heavy handed storylines are stewed with a healthy mix of pop culture references to lighten the mood. The mention of Veronica Mars, silly rabbits and “go go gadget arms” lend listeners a bit of relateable nostalgia, placed casually over busy drum beats and flowing keys. Hell, the moog part in “Hysteria” alone is worth the cost of the cd.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. The week prior to My Dinosaur Life’s January 19th release on Columbia Records the album will be streaming in its entirety on the band’s myspace. If one listen isn’t enough to make you snatch up this well manufactured album, you might think about reconsidering your taste in music, because this album is a keeper.
Track Listing:
1. Worker Bee
2. A Lifeless Ordinary (Need A Little Help)
3. Her Words Destroyed My Planet
4. Disappear
5. Delirium
6. History Lesson
7. Stand Too Close
8. Pulp Fiction
9. @!#?@!
10. Hysteria
11. Skin and Bones
12. The Weakends
Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo (left center) was in a bus accident earlier this morning in Upstate New York. Rivers and his family were in a bus going from one gig to another when their bus slid on some ice.
Rivers complained of rib pain and was transferred, along with one other passenger, to St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam, New York. Cuomo’s wife, daughter, and a fifth passenger on the bus were uninjured. The bus was traveling from Toronto, Ontario, to Boston, Massachusetts, for a show Monday night at the Agganis Arena at Boston University.
Neither drugs nor alcohol are suspected as a factor in the accident.
To help the band win, register at 101 the Fox’s web site and then vote for The Dead Girls to open for KISS at the Sprint Center before 9 p.m. Dec. 7. The show is Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.
As a thank-you for helping the band out, enjoy a free download the band made with Motion City Soundtrack‘s Justin Pierre when he was recently in Lawrence. Just right click and save as:
I already loved Justin Pierre of the moog-friendly Minnesota rockbandMotion City Soundtrack. And what’s not to love: funky hair, phenomenal lyrics that balance just the right amount of goof with soul-sharing and a killer knowledge of pop culture. But hearing him defend “New Moon,” to a room full of hipsters swearing they’ll never see that movie and I have to admit, I kind of fell in love with him a little bit more. He sure has some gumption.
Now it isn’t every day that you hear your favorite singer in a record shop talking sharing a movie review, but with Pierre’s Dino Campaign Trail, an acoustic tour in support of the upcoming album out this January, anything could happen. The tour itinerary was decided entirely by twitter and this led Pierre to Lawrence’s Love Garden Sounds to tape a live movie review with Lawrence’s Scene-Stealers.com.
This was their first time in front of a live audience and for such a popular movie, it was not so popular with the audience that considered themselves above such a film. Pierre gave it a solid review though and after hearing his thoughts on the movie, I kind of have a new perspective on it, too. Although, I kind of feel he was really giving “Face Punch” the solid rock fist and not “New Moon.” Oh, “Face Punch. Punch to the Face. Pow pow.”
The movie review was just an added bonus to having Justin in town. The real show would come later, but after the review, he played about four songs acoustic for the audience “Midwest Love Affair,” “Broken Heart,” “Disappear,” and “Fell in Love Without You” and even plugged in his iPod to play a few tracks off the new record. After getting a taste for the pieces, I’m excited, but it sounds a bit different than previous material – more tempo changes and different styles. It might take some getting used to, but knowing them, it will still be good.
As for the actual performance, there was some confusion where it was. Lawrence has plenty of venues, but this show was set at a warehouse for the Blue Collar Distro T-Shirt company. And after driving past several warehouses in an attempt to find the right one, we finally found it with a small group of shivering kids waiting for Justin to finish tuning up so the show could begin. Justin was ready a little before the promised start time, but insisting on waiting to begin at exactly 7 p.m., we held a moment of silence. It was short-lived and I’m glad because Justin is so rarely silent. Heck, during his performance he would even sing the solos of the other instruments.
At first I was sketched out by the location, but as the intimate set determined by requests that included “Indoor Living,” “Future Freaks Me Out,” “Everything Is Alright,” “Fell in Love Without You,” “LG Fuad,” “Disappear,” and more, I realized that this warehouse with green mannequins, t-shirts for up and coming acts and walls covered in not only Motion City Soundtrack posters, but Get Up Kids and Appleseed Cast and other scene-determining bands was the perfect location. It was historic. It was epic.
Justin answered questions dropped some pop culture references and finally called it a night as his voice started giving him some troubles and he still had one more day to go on the dino trail. My MCS-virgin friends that accompanied were eager to go home and check out the band’s other songs as they were impressed by how “pretty” Pierre’s voice was.
I was sad to call it a night, but glad to a part of such a special occasion. I filmed the whole thing and if I can figure out how to break it up to get on YouTube or something, I’ll be sharing it with you all soon, I promise.
As a special holiday treat, while in Lawrence, Justin Pierre recorded a song with local band The Dead Girls. The song is called “It’s All Happening.” And you can download it for free. Just right click and save as. Happy Holidays.
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Concert Calendar
Nov 23, 2011
HaHa Tonka @ Recordbar, Kansas City MO
Nov 25, 2011
Thee Oh Sees @ The Granada, Lawrence KS
